WordPress.com Makes Major Unannounced Pricing Changes, Slashes Free Storage Limits – WP Tavern

Over the weekend, a publish concerning WordPress.com’s as but unannounced pricing modifications went viral on Hacker Information. In a publish titled “What are you doing, WordPress.com?” one consumer recognized as “VM” expressed issues concerning the pricing, which has modified from 5 plans to 2 plans, and slashed storage on the free tier from 3GB to 500MB.

“In some unspecified time in the future late final week, WordPress changed all the paid plans with a single ‘Professional’ plan and diminished the storage on the free plan 6x, from 3 GB to 500 MB,” VM wrote. “It additionally imposed a visitors ceiling on each plans the place none existed: 10,000 visits a month and 100,000 visits a month (and it hasn’t stated something about overages – to date).”

Different WordPress.com customers took to the boards to specific frustrations with the new pricing. Though WordPress.com representatives have confirmed that the storage and visitors limits ought to solely have an effect on new websites, many long-time customers have reported that their storage has been in the reduction of to 500MB. This can be a bug within the rollout however on the time of publication, WordPress.com has not printed a public discover the value modifications past updating the pricing web page.

Within the absence of communication concerning the change, VM speculated that it could be a cascading impact of the block editor altering how effectively business themes might be monetized:

With the good thing about hindsight, maybe we should always have seen this coming: the brand new full-site enhancing possibility has rendered premium themes, and thus the premium and enterprise plans redundant; the Gutenberg improve allowed customers on free in addition to private plans to do among the issues that had been beforehand solely potential with premium or enterprise plans. However to be sincere, the hindsight doesn’t clarify why WordPress.com – whose free plan, pro-open-source stance and give attention to making publishing expertise extra democratic made it many a contemporary (non-technical) blogger’s host of alternative – would pull the rug out like this.

WordPress.com CEO Dave Martin responded to those issues on Hacker Information, apologizing for the dearth of communication within the rollout:

You’re proper to name us out. I did a poor job of sharing context round why we’re making change, so I can see how they may come as a shock. I’m sorry! That’s on me.

Sure, as of this week we’ve gone from 5 plans down to simply 2. That stated, we’re not carried out making modifications. This was the primary of a few phases of modifications.

These 5 older plans that you just talked about had been the fruits of like 10 years price of plans and options type of haphazardly being added to WordPress.com with no actual technique. With these older plans, it was actually onerous for patrons to see at-a-glance why they need to select one plan over one other.

Martin stated WordPress.com typically adjusts its subscription plan pricing to make it reasonably priced in several areas of the world however uncared for to take action for the brand new Professional plan. The corporate is engaged on updating that.

He additionally stated the visitors limits will “solely be enforced on the respect system.” Customers who constantly go over the month-to-month cap will probably be prodded with notices to pay extra, however their websites won’t be shut off.

“The Professional plan you see now (at $15/mo) is actually the the very same plan because the previous Marketing strategy (which used to price $25/mo),” Martin stated. “The one distinction being the default storage that’s accessible and a value financial savings to prospects of $10/mo.” This plan presently has no possibility for month-to-month billing.

The associated fee financial savings solely impacts customers who had been already paying. New customers on the free plan might want to work inside the confines of the 500MB storage restrict or pay $180/yr for the improve. That is stunning, given how many individuals use WordPress.com merely to weblog with no enterprise pursuits.

“Once more, this can be nice for companies – nevertheless it’s a shit transfer for bloggers,” VM stated in his publish. “Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, which runs WordPress.com, recently said in an interview: ‘I’ll let you know a stat most individuals don’t notice. Half of all customers who join WordPress.com on daily basis are there to weblog.’ I’ll let you know that for all of these individuals in addition to the people who find themselves utilizing WordPress.com to weblog (together with me), the brand new plan is a betrayal of our pursuits.”

One Hacker Information commenter @username223 noted how simple will probably be for customers to max out the free tier in a brief period of time:

Reducing the free tier from 3 GB to 500 MB makes it ineffective for many individuals: that’s 500 photos at okay decision, and many individuals wish to put pictures on their blogs. And 300 “visits” (web page hits?) per day is nearly as dangerous, as a runaway crawler or minor spike in curiosity can blow via that very quickly.

I moved away from WP.com once they began placing adverts on the free tier. I assumed their enterprise mannequin was upselling some individuals, so monetizing the free model felt scummy. The truth that they’re crippling the free model now makes me much more glad I moved away.

Martin stated WordPress.com has plans to supply some à la carte options that will assist new free customers keep away from having to pay $180/yr simply to extend storage.

“We will probably be saying reasonably priced add-ons for each the free plan and the Professional plan to increase each your visitors and your storage as wanted,” Martin stated. “In truth, we plan to additionally add a handful of reasonably priced add-ons to the free plan to make it simple for patrons to choose and select which further performance they need, without having to improve to the Professional plan.”

Martin’s responses had been reassuring to some customers, together with the creator of the unique publish. Different discovered the modifications to the free plan to be discouraging, saying “the web has change into gentrified.” The feedback on the Hacker News publish are a gold mine of suggestions from a demographic that has developed robust expectations about running a blog totally free.

“The purpose is right here that ‘simply right here to weblog’ bloggers like me have been capable of pay WP to have a customized area, some storage, some web optimization and a few SM instruments managed by WP – and nothing else,” consumer panicpanicpanic stated. “However now, to level a customized area at my WP web site, I must cough up $180/yr. It’s not simply the free plan shrinking additional, a truth you’re commenting on, however that the only various plan lies on the different excessive.”

It’s not but clear whether or not WordPress.com will provide customized domains as an add-on to the free plan or pressure customers to improve to the Professional plan. On the time of publishing, no public announcement has been made concerning the full vary of add-ons that will probably be accessible. WordPress.com has printed a web page to its assist boards with FAQ’s regarding pricing feedback. The publish signifies an announcement could also be coming within the subsequent few days after the group has the possibility to work out any remaining points.